Children's Home run by Hazelmont Social Care LTD in Walsall

Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 1 Registered provider: Hazelmont Social Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who have had adverse childhood experiences. At the time of this inspection, two children were living in the home, and both spoke with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since March 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 11 February 2025

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2025 Full Good 27/02/2024 Full Good 08/03/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, children have experienced a significant number of changes in the staff who care for them. Ten staff members have left and seven have joined. Children have not always been well supported through these changes and have sometimes found out about staff departures in an unplanned way. A combination of staff shortages and poor planning meant children were unable to go on holiday during the summer.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not consistently follow up actions identified in children’s plans. For example, one child has not been supported in their wish to stop vaping, or to find part-time employment. And a recommendation from a child’s independent reviewing officer to share information with the child has not been followed. Actions agreed in children’s meetings are not always included in the plans which inform staff’s care of children, reducing the likelihood of them being completed.

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improvement to be good

Work with children to help them be safer and more independent is infrequent and lacks planning. This means that opportunities to help children are missed. Leaders and managers are beginning to address this, but these improvements are at an early stage, and their impact is not yet evident.

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improvement to be good

While most children’s health needs are being met, for one child, staff have not been proactive in following up a referral for an assessment. This lack of challenge has allowed further delay for the child in being assessed. Some statutory health documentation for children is incomplete, which may impact staff’s understanding of children’s needs and how best to support them.

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improvement to be good

Despite these failings, children are making progress and can recognise the improvements in their lives. One child said, ‘My life has improved. I am doing a lot more than I would have at [previous home]. My life has improved a lot. I tidy my room. I am not a fan of doing it, but I am doing it now. With cooking and washing up and laundry I am learning to do it.’

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improvement to be good

Children speak positively about their experiences in the home and enjoy warm, trusting relationships with staff. One child said, ‘They are polite, respectful, good to get on with, fun. There is not any bad things to say about them.’

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from living in a home that is clean, well-furnished and provides pleasant spaces for them to relax and enjoy themselves. However, some issues detract from the overall environment. One child had discarded vapes and toys on a flat roof outside their bedroom. And there was dried toilet paper stuck to the ceiling of a communal bathroom. These issues were resolved during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 4 Since the last inspection, two children have moved on from the home. In both cases, managers and staff worked hard to ensure these transitions were positive experiences. One child moved into the home following a carefully considered and well-planned process. The child was able to visit, meet staff and spend time with the other child before moving in. This supported them to settle quickly.

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improvement to be good

Learning from significant incidents is not consistently identified or shared with the team to prevent recurrence.

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improvement to be good

Physical restraint is used infrequently and only when necessary, and is proportionate. However, when it is used, management oversight is weak. Staff debriefs are not always carried out and children are not consistently given the opportunity to speak with a manager or authorised person following the use of restraint. This undermines important safeguards designed to protect children.

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improvement to be good

Consequences used by staff are not always natural or restorative. While this is beginning to change, it is unclear how staff are being supported to develop their understanding in this area. This has limited children’s opportunities to learn, and in one instance resulted in an incident of restraint which may have been avoided.

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improvement to be good

Risks to children are clearly identified and safeguarding incidents are rare. Risks to children are reducing. Incidents of physical and verbal aggression, previously frequent, are now rare. Bullying behaviour, which had been a concern, has not occurred recently.

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improvement to be good

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the risks to children and how to keep them safe. Children rarely go missing from the home, and there have been no incidents involving the children currently living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to make a complaint, but because they feel listened to and supported by staff, they have not needed to do so. When complaints are received from members of the public, leaders and managers take appropriate action to resolve them. Children are involved in restorative actions to repair relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has been without a registered manager since March 2025. A manager was in post and had applied to register with Ofsted but withdrew their application in June 2025. The home is being overseen by the organisation’s assistant responsible individual while the provider recruits a manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The assistant responsible individual is well regarded by staff and children. She is child focused on her decision-making and has clear plans and ambitions to improve the home. Staff feel well supported by her and their colleagues. One member of staff said, ‘Since [name of assistant responsible individual] has been looking after the home, it feels very Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 5 stable. I feel more comfortable and confident.’ Another commented, ‘She is open, free for you to come to. She is here to help you.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children are also positive about the assistant responsible individual and the deputy manager. One child said, ‘[Name of deputy manager] is new but first impressions I think she is great. I love [name of assistant responsible individual]. Overall, they are both really good people.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Until recently, a high number of agency staff were used to care for children. Since the assistant responsible individual joined the home in June 2025, this has significantly reduced, improving consistency for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have worked hard to recruit a staff team, ensuring children are protected through robust safer recruitment practices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers ensure staff receive appropriate training, which means children are cared for by knowledgeable staff. However, staff supervisions have been infrequent since the last inspection, limiting opportunities for oversight and support. Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans.(Regulation 5 (b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that they challenge partner agencies when there are delays in referrals being made for children to receive services. 2 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background; 2 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 7 help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that staff undertake work with children as set out in their relevant plans, and work with children to prepare them to live independently as adults.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(x))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that staff receive regular supervision. 1 January 2026

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that children benefit from a consistent and stable workforce, and that they are well supported when staff leave. 1 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 8 The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (a)(b)(i)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that debriefs take place with staff following the use of restraint. And that the manager or, if the manager has been involved in the restraint, another authorised person has spoken to the child about the restraint. 2 December 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hazelmont Social Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Midlands House, Gipsy Lane, Willenhall, West Midlands WV13 2HA

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Inspector

John Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2667768 10 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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